Keeping the Balance version 2
by Ryo Oh Ki7
Summary: Conner wakes up in hospital with no idea who he is, or why he has been in a coma for the past five years. Some hints come from his surroundings, until he is forced out of hospital by a Youma Attack! SM, Ranma 12, Ah Megami Sama!, Authorish.
1. Chapter 1

A Sailor Moon / A!MS / Ranma (1/2) / some others (authorish) Fanfic By SilentWolf Re-Write. Very BETA.

KEEPING THE BALANCE  
A CHRONICLE

CHAPTERS 1 – 4

Chapter 1 The Awakening

The hospital room was almost bare. A bed rested upon one wall, the rising and falling of the sheets an indication that it's inhabitant was still alive, as was the regular monotonous beep coming from the heart rate monitor next to it. A bedside table rested nearby, but any chairs had been cleared from the room long since. Occasionally a nurse would come in to clean and move him, but for the most part the man remained undisturbed. The chart at the end of the bed showed that he had been there for quite some time.  
It would have been a peaceful life, if he were awake to appreciate it.

Movement gave indication of something in the corner of the room, a mouse? The thing was the right size, but was standing on two feet. Platinum coloured hair sat atop a tanned body. The mouse sized human was staring intently at the sleeping man. A nimbus of fire began to appear around the little woman as the man suddenly stiffened. The fluorescent lights above the bed flickered. His back arched, his mouth opened in a silent scream made all the more haunting by the play of shadows across his face. His eyes shot open, revealing a pain beyond comprehension. Then, his muscles gave out. He fell back into the bed, eyes closing once more and his face becoming his usual serene mask.

The little woman blew him a kiss, before disappearing. Silence and serenity once more descended upon the hospital room, hiding the pain that for all it's silence was indicative of a tortured body.

His eyes fluttered, and then opened. A minute passed, while he tried to adjust to his surroundings. He sat up, brows furrowed in concentration. A look of confusion appeared on his face, as he looked about the room.

'Who am I?' he asked himself, 'And where am I'  
'I'm in a hospital, that's for sure.' He realised, 'But that doesn't answer the question of who I am.'

Legs appeared at the side of the bed, from underneath the sheets as he swung his body around. Pushing back with his arms he levered himself out of the bed, rocking slightly as he stood for the first time in years.

Unsteadily, he slowly made his way to a door in the wall near the bed. A few moments inspection in the mirror embedded in the door revealed a young man, with pale skin and a five o'clock shadow. 'More like a ten o'clock shadow!' he thought ruefully.  
A gaunt face was topped with black hair, cut short, bright blue piercing eyes and a nose that was on the 'imposing' rather than 'gigantic' side of large. Opening the door revealed a cupboard. The young man looked around briefly before pulling some clothes out of the dark wardrobe. A black shirt was thrown onto the bed, black pants and jacket followed, along with a black tie and a black trench coat.

'Black?' he queried himself, 'Everything is black. I must like the colour.'

He stretched briefly, and realising that there didn't appear to be any ill effects from his stay, began to get dressed. Once that was completed, he moved to the end of the bed to look at his charts.  
'Juuban Hospital?' he paused, 'Japan then. That much is obvious from the writing.'

"Watashi wa nihongo o hanasu koto ga dekisu." He said, suddenly curious as to his linguistic talents.  
'Perhaps it will be an indication of where I'm from?' he thought, hopefully.  
"I can speak English." He began.  
"Ich kann Deutsches sprechen"  
"Je peux parler français"  
"Posso parlare italiano"  
"Sé hablar español"  
'And that's just the start of it.' He thought to himself, trying to catalogue the rest of the languages he knew, 'But why Ancient Scandinavian? And Sumerian?'

Curious he checked the pockets on his coat and trench coat for some paper or a pen. A few seconds of rummaging didn't reveal either, but it did turn up a battered leather wallet. He put that down on the end of the bed for a moment, before turning his attention to his charts. Pulling the pen off the top of the clipboard, he turned a piece of paper over and attempted to clear his mind.

'If I write without thinking,' he contemplated, 'perhaps I will write in my native tongue.'

A few moments of scribbling later revealed two sentences made up of words from at least ten different languages.

'Oh well,' he thought to himself, 'now to the wallet!'

Inspection of the wallet did not reveal any answers, but more questions. It contained three different driver's licences in three different names: Damatteno Ookami, Conner MacLeod and Jon Walker. Recognising the last as a brand of scotch, and the first somehow not matching his Anglo-Saxon appearance, he decided his name must be Conner MacLeod.

'Who would name their child after a scotch whiskey?' he thought to himself.

Each of the cards had a different birth date on them, and different address'.

'No help here,' he sighed, 'unless I am three different people.'

A sizeable amount of cash sat in the wallet, in three different currencies: Australian dollar, Japanese Yen and English Pound notes. Visa Cards, Master Cards and EFT cards decorated the rest of the leather pouch. Each card was in one of the three names.

The door to the hospital room opened, and a young woman entered carrying a metal basin filled with water. She was a matronly looking Japanese woman, dressed in the traditions whites of a hospital nurse. Her surprise was obvious; upon spotting the young man she dropped the basin, her mouth making a perfect 'O' in shock. She bowed deeply, apologising profusely for both her surprise and the mess, before backing out of the room.

A quick check of the charts revealed to Conner that he had been admitted five years before the present date and had been in a coma the whole time.

'No wonder she was so shocked!' he thought, 'She's probably off to fetch a doctor.'

Before the doctor appeared however, he was distracted by a large crashing noise coming from outside his hospital room. Opening the door briefly, Conner quickly stuck his head out into the hallway.

Dust clouded about the hallway, clouds that distorted both sound and shape. Rubble lay in the corridor directly outside Conner's room, and he noted with interest an alarm sounding in a far off part of the complex. The dust cleared a little, and Conner noticed the nurse lying amongst rubble a few meters from his room. The second thing that he saw, the thing that shocked him to his very core, was the dust concealed shadow of a very large person. Conner's first thought was that the person beyond the obfuscating dust must have been bigger than Andre The Giant. As the dust cleared however, Conner became shocked more and more. It didn't appear to be human. It didn't even appear to be a giant robot or anything of that ilk. This creature stood crouched in the hospital corridor. First vision would categorise it as something akin to a Mummy of Egyptian history or American B grade horror. This Mummy was something more however, It had a surgeons light reflecting headband and appeared to be covered in syringes. Light somehow magnified from the headband, shining through the dust and lighting up the corridor ahead of it. The creature was looking at him! Throwing caution to the wind, Conner leaped towards the fallen nurse. He reached her just as the creature began advancing. A security guard rounded the corner behind the creature, and it turned quickly. The light from it's head struck the security guard, who crumpled in an unconscious heap. The beam swung back towards Conner just as he had scooped the nurse up into a fireman's hold. The beam of light struck Conner in his chest and he felt a tingle all over his body. Unlike the guard he did not fall, but ran with the nurse away from the creature. He rounded a corner and continued running. Noises of other people came from behind him, but he paid them no heed. He hoped only that the strange beam of light wasn't killing people. Down a flight of stairs he hurried, and out onto another floor. People here weren't running, but were standing around in confusion. They obviously did not know what was going on, and were perhaps half considering going to investigate.

"Quickly!" Conner yelled at someone, "She's hurt! She needs a doctor!"

Conner laid the nurse down on the ground as a doctor came running up, attracted by his call. The doctor was very efficient, giving the nurse a quick inspection before delegating to other nurses.  
"Quickly! Take her to ER!" he instructed before asking Conner quickly, "What's going on up there?"

"I… I don't know." Conner replied, "Some great big monster is shooting everyone with some sort of light beam"  
"A Youma?" the doctor asked.  
'Youma… Demon… devil.' Conner summarised.  
"It sure looks like a Youma." He replied, "But, Youma are just make-believe aren't they"  
The doctor looked surprised, "Where have you been? There have been Youma invading Tokyo for years now"  
"I've been in a coma for five years. I just woke up ten minutes ago." Conner replied slowly. 'Youma. Real'  
"Oh. Don't worry, the Sailor Scouts will get it!" the doctor replied, before running off.

Conner considered hanging around the hospital to see what happened, but decided instead to get away from the dangerous 'make-believe' creature. The hospital was a hive of activity, and word of the Youma attack spread quickly. By the time Conner reached main foyer of the hospital, doctors and nurses were already evacuating patients. He walked outside unmolested.

Conner away from the hospital with no plan other than to get some answers. It was dark when he came to the top of a small hill. The stroke of a broom off to his left alerted him to the presence of a Shinto priest sweeping stone steps. The steps led up to the top of the hill, and the Shinto shrine atop it.  
'If Youma exist, why not Kami?' Conner reasoned, before turning to head up the steps. The Shinto priest was a small old man, brushing the dirt and leaves from the steps with a straw broom. He looked up.  
"You're too late to buy any charms gaijin." He said, in a grumpy tone.  
"I'm sorry sir," Conner replied, looking towards the shrine, "I was just wishing to pay my respects and ask the Kami for some assistance"  
The old man seemed taken aback by this, and stood aside, saying "Everybody has that right sir, it is not my place to turn you away"  
"Thank-You Kannushi(1)." Conner replied.

As he entered the temple proper however, a great bell sounded near the torii. Conner turned around to see the old man staring at him and the bell in horror, yet nobody ringing the bell. A young raven haired priestess rushed up behind the young man, and slapped a piece of paper on his forehead. Conner tried to move to defend himself, but found that he could not. He was paralysed. He looked on in fascinated horror as the old man started chanting. The chant was a kind of prayer, asking the Kami to destroy the evil demon that had invaded his temple!  
'Did he mean me?' Conner thought in panic 'But I'm not a demon.'

The old man finished chanting, but nothing appeared to happen. The old man and the girl looked at Conner in shock.

'Obviously I should be a pile of dust or something about now.' He thought.

Conner began to wonder how he could get free, and was surprised to find that he knew how to. Somehow he knew that if he concentrated on an extreme feeling of freedom that he would be free. The old man and the girl were obviously surprised to see him moving, as they did nothing to stop his attack. 'Damn them!' he thought, 'They tried to kill me'. Conner was not about to kill them however. He slapped the priestess away with one hand and concentrated on the old man. The old man defended himself from Conner's punches but did not see his foot until the last second. Conner was surprised to see him fly away, landing unconscious about four meters away. Turning back to the priestess he found to his shock that she was slumped up against the wall of the temple, quickly he checked her pulse and her breathing.

A brief scavenge turned up some rope, which he used to tie up the priest and priestess. Waiting for them to awake, Conner sat down to pray, thankful that he hadn't hurt them too seriously.

Something flickered in the corner of Conner's vision. A roaring noise seemed to fill his ears as part of the temple lit up in an explosion of flame. Flames rushed up the walls, as sparks seemed to fly about the room. The sparks moved not randomly, but as if they were being sucked up in a tornado. They coalesced into many smaller flames, burning nothing but air.  
"Don't worry!" a voice called out, high pitched, and seeming to come from the levitating flames.  
"We won't hurt you!" the voice called again.  
Conner looked on in amazement, as the voices seemed to be trying to placate him.  
"Who, or what, are you?" he asked the flames.

"We are the fire Kami." They replied, dancing about.

"And we like you." They added, beginning to swirl around Conner.

It was about twenty minutes before the 'prisoners' began waking up, five minutes after the Kami had left. Turning around from his contemplation Conner saw that the young girl was the first awake.  
"I'm not going to untie you until you promise not to try and kill me." He told her.  
The priestess looked at him strangely, possibly trying to find some evil intention in his words.  
"The fire spirits won't hurt me," He said, motioning around with his hand "so why are

you asking them to"  
"You are a demon!" she yelled, her eyes filled with venom and loathing.  
Conner couldn't help but laugh.  
"Surely," He said, "I would know if I were a demon"  
"Of course you are! You set off the alarm!" she spat at the surprised young man.  
This came as a shock to him, after all, he did see the bell ringing by itself.

Conner left, hearing the young priestess calling out to him but not paying any attention to what she was saying. He was walking down the street, engrossed in thought, when he was surprised to see a girl running towards the shrine on the opposite side of the road. What was surprising was that she was wearing something similar to a sailor fuku, with a very short green skirt and a green bow. Conner spent that night curled up underneath a tree in a park.

(1) The title of a Shinto priest, which carries the nuance of someone who is master in charge or guardian of the house in which the Kami resides.


	2. Chapter 2

KEEPING THE BALANCE

A CHRONICLE

Chapter 2 Wanted by two senshi

He woke up rather early. Whether it was early for him or not, he was not sure, but it was definitely early. Before sunrise early. Walking around town for about five hours, he managed to familirise himself with some of the landmarks, and, at about ten o'clock he found himself outside of an arcade. Reasoning that he needed a little bit of fun he decided to enter and try out some of the games inside. Claw machines abounded, filled with all sorts of plushies and toys. A large number contained sailor suited figures, in a multitude of colours and styles. The 'kuranu arukeedo' was strangely busy for the time of day, with a large crowd gathered around one racing car machine. Conner stood watching, as a young sandy haired man beat everybody who challenged him. Many of the challengers were very good, but the young man beat every one of them convincingly. At the end of each game, an aqua haired young lady came up to him and they talked until the next challenger sat down. After a short while, Conner got close enough to sit down in the second seat. He looked at the young man and said with a smile

"I hope I'll be more of a challenge than the others."

"So do I," replied the man, rather tersely, "You ready?"

Putting some coins in both slots; the young sandy haired man must not have to spend much money here, Conner selected a manual transition and the expert track. He sat back, foot on accelerator until the count-down started.

The race started well, at the beginning of the second lap he was ahead by just a little. Conner gained the lead on the second straight, and going into the third lap they were neck and neck. To watchers, it must have seemed quite strange. Conner and the young man were echoing each other's actions, simultaneously they were braking, changing gears down, swinging the wheel around, accelerating and changing gears back up. Concentrating fully on the game, Conner was somewhat surprised to notice two things:

Firstly that there was a strange light reflecting off the screen coming from somewhere behind his head, and secondly that the young man had crashed. Taking a quick look at him Conner noted that he had an expression of fear on his face, soon to be replaced by anger before being covered up in an attempt to look 'normal'. His attention was drawn back to the game as it beeped, telling Conner that he had crashed. Getting back into the race he reached top speed just as the young man overtook him. Conner finished a close second, by about .07 seconds.

"Thank-you" Conner told him, "You're very good."

All he said was "Yes", while attempting to hide the tone of anger in his voice.

Conner felt that somehow he had angered him, and didn't want to hang around. Getting up off the machine, Conner surveyed some of the other machines before leaving the arcade. A quite alleyway seemed like a good short-cut away from the crowded streets.

"Stop right there Nega-scum!" cried out a voice from behind Conner.

Turning around to the source of the voice, he discovered it to be coming from a Sandy-haired girl dressed in a sailor costume similar to the one he saw the night before. This costume however, had a blue skirt and was trimmed with a yellow bow.

'That's strange,' Conner thought, 'Must be that arcade guy's sister.'

There was quite a bit of similarity between them.

"Invited by a new age." She began to cry, "I am the magnificent Sailor Uranus!".

Striking an odd pose, Uranus' speech was soon joined by that of another Sailor suited girl with aqua hair.

"Also invited by a new age. I am the elegant Sailor Neptune!".

Neptune, green skirt and accentuated by a blue bow, came to stand beside Uranus in a pose almost as odd.

"What do you mean by Nega-scum?" Conner asked, slightly distracted by the speeches.

The two sailor girls seemed a little surprised at this.

'good' thought Conner.

"Well…" began Sailor Uranus, "we were watching you play."

"… that young man in the arcade," followed Neptune,quickly, "and we saw the demon mark on your forehead!"

Conner was slightly puzzled by this,

'It must have been that light that was putting me off!' he realized.

"Don't worry demon!" cried out Sailor Uranus, "We will send you back to the Negaverse!"

Lifting her arms up a little, she began to cry "World…"

"…Shaking!" she finished, as a great ball of energy was sent towards Conner.

'I'm going to die' thought Conner, watching the electric ball spinning towards him.

'No you're not.' Replied a dry voice.

Time seemed to slow down, the ball moved much less quickly.

'I'm not?' Conner queried.

'No. Not yet.' Replied the voice, 'Erect a barrier around yourself in your mind.'

As Conner closed his eyes, he was himself, or at least a representation of himself made up entirely of blue light. Around this minds-eye figure was erected a shield of glowing white.

'Like this.' Added the voice.

Conner did as he was told, and opened his eyes to see that time had sped up and the ball of energy was almost at him!

Eyes wide, and mouth open in a silent scream, Conner felt a slight tickle of static as the energy washed over him.

The two sailor-suited girls stood watching in shock, obviously not expecting such a reaction.

Conner decided not to stick around any longer, and turning the corner he found that he was at a dead end. Crouching down near some barrels, he tried to make himself as un-noticeable as possible and was ready to attack the sailor girls as soon as they came around the corner. Footsteps echoed down the alleyway, the click-click of heels on stone. The two girls steps around the corner and looked straight at him! Then they looked past him, and around him.

Standing two meters away from Conner, they could not see him, even though he was in plain sight!

"How?" Questioned Uranus.

"I don't know," replied Neptune, "but we should tell Pluto about this."

Conner remained where he was for another five minutes after they left, slowly walking back to the crowded streets.

People jostled past him, as Conner remember something that Sailor Neptune had said. He stopped at a shop window, and was surprised to see that he had a tattoo on his forehead, and one on each side of his head next to his eyes. Each tattoo was a vertical blue line, with a thinner line on either side.

Conner looked around for a public rest-room, and seeing the universally recognized signs made his way quickly to examine himself in a mirror.

Upon closer examination, they didn't appear to be normal tattoos. They almost appeared to be solid objects under a transparent skin. Nobody had been staring at Conner however.

'Maybe nobody else can see them?' he queried, 'only one way to find out.'

Leaving the mens-room, he found a complete stranger sitting on a bench on the side of the footpath.

"Please excuse me," he asked, "But could you tell me if there is something on my face?"

"No" replied the elderly gentleman.

"Just here?" Conner asked, touching his forehead.

"No, you're fine young man." Replied the Senior, "Date or Job-interview?"

"Oh no…" Conner replied, "Nothing like that. Thank-you."

Finally making it to a mall, Conner decided to shop around for a bit. The mall was fairly large, containing almost everything anyone could possibly need or want (including all of the things nobody would ever want). It only took a couple of hours for Conner to find a decent backpack and a couple of changes of clothes. The big surprise was when he decided to try out one of his cards in an ATM. He entered the card before he even realized that he didn't know what it's pin was. His first attempt was to merely close his eyes and enter four digits in at random, and it worked! The balance on the account came as a bit of a shock, apparently he was quite rich. The rest of the day was spent visiting real-estate agents in the area and looking for apartments. After three different agencies, and five different apartments he finally found one that he liked. He signed the relevant documents, handed over rent, bond and key money and was told that he could move into his new home in two days time.

That night, Conner spent in a nice cozy hotel room.

He spent the whole of the next day searching through the news archives in the

Juuban Public Library. He was looking for a number of things: Anything to do with strange people dressed in sailor fuku, any clue as to his identity and any local history in general. He managed to find information on the former and the latter, but alas no clue as to his identity.

The most interesting thing he found was the information that the 'Sailor Senshi' had been around for a while, fighting off evil 'demons'. The records started with an article detailing two 'angels' rescuing a computer cram class from a 'demon'. Conner gathered from reading the papers, that there were five Senshi

and that they defend Tokyo from demons and other evil things. Some of the earlier papers also mentioned a Sailor V, but he discounted her because of her lack of association to a heavenly body. Strangely enough he could find no reference to the two Scouts he had encountered the day before.

Conner finished up at about ten o'clock and tried to go to sleep, but his sleep

was prevented by his thoughts. He kept going over what happened during the first two days of his 'awakening'. He kept having visions of turning into an ugly demon with horns, cloven hooves etc...

Finally sleep claimed him, and he dreamed of Sailor Scouts and demons.


	3. Chapter 3

KEEPING THE BALANCE

A CHRONICLE

Chapter 3 A Demon Prince

Having been awake since four o'clock, Conner had a good idea of what he was going to do. He showered, dressed and ate breakfast at the hotel. Once checked out at ten o'clock, he made his way to the real-estate agents to collect his keys. More rent was paid, out of his seemingly endless bank account, and he made his way to the shopping district. Furniture, essential electrical goods and food were his first stops. He followed this with clothing, bedding and all the other little bits and pieces that turned a house into a home. Once his shopping was complete, he headed to his apartment. It was quite a nice building and his space, although empty at present, appeared clean and comfortable. Conner promptly sat on the floor and contemplated his situation until a knock at the door startled him from his reverie.

It was the first of the deliveries; two young men carried into his apartment, first a couch (in pieces), then futon, then dining table (also apart) and finally chairs.

'Better than the floor.' Conner chuckled, once the delivery men had left.

Using the tools supplied, and the somewhat confusing instructions, Conner set about assembling the table and couch. Done, slightly quicker than he expected, he stood back to admire his handiwork as another knock on the door ended his self-congratulations.

He opened the door to a young woman, tall as himself with a pony tail of brown hair.

"Good Evening" he greeted her.

"Hi! I'm Kino Makoto, from across the hall." She said, after a slight hesitation, "I just came across to say hello and introduce myself."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," he exclaimed, "My name is MacLeod Conner."

"You're not in here by yourself are you?" she asked.

Conner smiled, either it was a subtle way to find out more about him, or a genuine interest, "Yes, it's just me" he answered.

"That's okay," Makoto remarked, "It's just me over there too!"

"It's so good to see someone move into this place," she added, "Ever since old mister Mashita passed away last month."

A slight frown creased her brows, "Oh no!" she cried, "You probably didn't want to hear that, did you?"

"That's okay," comforted Conner, "It happens to everyone eventually."

A slight sadness seemed to pass across her face, "Sometimes sooner than you want." She whispered.

"You're parents?" Conner asked, realizing that a young single girl would normally be living at home.

A slight nod was his reply, and it broke Conner's heart.

"I'm so sorry."

"No… It's okay, it happened a long time ago." She answered quietly, "Sometimes though, It just hit's me, ya know?"

"Not really," Conner replied, "I have no memory before waking up in hospital a couple of days ago. I don't even know if I have any family."

"That must be absolutely horrible." She replied, shocked.

"I haven't really had time to think about it." Said Conner, putting on a smile.

"Have you had lunch yet?" Makoto asked, trying to change the subject, "I've got something in the oven at the moment, why don't I go get it and share it with you?"

"I'd like that." Said Conner, smiling genuinely.

Makoto left to get the food, as Conner unpacked some cutlery and crockery.

She retuned, carrying a large steaming pan of lasagna.

"I've never tried cooking Italian food before." She remarked, "I hope it's okay."

They sat down at Conner's new dining table, and he dished up the meal.

Conversation ceased as they ate. Conner became more and more impressed as each delicious mouthful melted in his mouth. Both plates were soon finished, and Conner complimented Makoto "That was the most wonderful cooking I have ever tasted!"

"Thank-you" Makoto replied, "but it was a little overcooked."

"I don't remember eating anything before a couple of days ago, but that was amazing!"

Conner cleaned up the dishes, as Makoto sat down on his couch to relax after the meal. Once finished, Conner sat down next to her.

The couch creaked, then snapped!

The two found themselves on the floor, in front of a wrecked heap of a couch.

Conner lay on his back, Makoto on top of him, arms and legs on either side, both slightly shocked.

Ever so slowly, Makoto lowered her head towards Conner.

Ever so slowly, Conner raised his head towards Makoto.

Their eyes closed as their lips approached each other.

As their lips touched, another knock at the door brought them back to the world around them.

Blushing, Makoto pushed herself up to her feet.

"I… We… Umm… I have to go, check, something." Makoto stammered, making her way to the door.

She opened the door, excusing herself to the delivery men on the other side.

Once she had left, the men brought in an entertainment center and some other furniture and electronics.

Conner remained on the floor, looking at the collapsed couch in confusion.

"I could have sword I'd put that together properly."

Conner pushed a button to set the time on his VCR when he suddenly fell to the ground. His face was torn in a mask of agony, hands balled into fists at his forehead. Fire ripped through his brain, worse than any migraine. Along with the fire came a fundamental belief, an epiphany, an overwhelming understanding that something was wrong. Something was happening that shouldn't be. With a flash of understanding, he realized that someone was tampering with something that belonged to him. Part of his consciousness broke off, and he could see the Sailor Senshi battling a monster.

'It's a Demon Prince' spoke the dry voice inside his head.

'They are very powerful.' It added, perhaps with a hint of pleasure.

He could see trees and a park bench; and he realized exactly where they were. The Sailor Senshi were fighting in the Park that he had spent his first night.

Suddenly, both parts were back together and Conner was sprinting out his front door, running faster than humanly possible straight towards the park.

'Please let me get there' he prayed, 'before it's too late.'

Bursting through the park gates, he stood panting and looking for the Senshi. He found them almost immediately. Three of them were on the ground, the other two kneeling over them. The Demon Prince towered over them.

"Now pitiful mortals, you will tell me where he is. I know that three of you have had contact with him." He boomed.

"Even if we know who you are talking of, what makes you think we'd just hand him over to you?" asked the Senshi of Jupiter, the one that Conner had seen as he fled the shrine.

"Because he is my puppet! My servant!" came the reply.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Conner screamed, with every ounce of his being.

He found himself rushing out to stand about ten meters away from the Demon and cried out "I am no ones servant! And I'm not anybody's puppet!"

Suddenly, a memory escaped from the hidden recesses of his mind.

The darkness was palpable, an all invading force that seeped between the trees and enveloped light. Even the moon could not pierce this all encompassing force in these forests. Trees loomed overhead, their branches blocking out light from above. The only light, enough to see by, came from the lit-up display of a mobile phone. A young man knelt, hands out-stretched, the mobile apparently flung away like so much garbage. Tears streamed from his eyes, as shuddering anguish wracked his body. He sat up and drew, from inside his jacket, a knife.

The loud sobs of pain ceased, as his mind contemplated the task ahead. Bringing the knife up to his stomach, he allowed the cold steel to pierce his shirt and touch flesh.

'That's a pretty silly thing to do.' Spoke a dry voice.

The young man appeared shocked, and dropping the knife, spun around to look out into the darkness around him.

"Who's there!" he shouted.

'Not out there,' spoke the voice, 'inside.'

The young man suddenly realized the the voice wasn't coming from the forest around him, but was inside his own mind.

'Would you like to reconsider?' asked the voice, 'I've got a job for you.'

'A job?' queried the young man.

'Your body will house a two very important spirits.' It explained, 'One spirit will be part of a demon and the other, part of a god. Yet, you will obey Kami-Sama and follow a destiny laid out for you.'

'But… what about me' asked the young man.

'I don't have time to explain.' Exclaimed another voice, somewhat more vibrant and decidedly female. 'Yes or no?'

Conner had the strange impression that they were both the same being, and possibly about to get into trouble for doing something that it wasn't supposed to be doing.

'Yes.' Decided the young man.

The last thing the voice said was 'Oops, gotta go. Have fun!'

'Let me.' Spoke the dry voice, and Conner gave himself into it. Somehow he got pushed back into his own mind, as something else took control of his body.

He found himself sending out bolts of flame from his hands, encasing himself in powerful force fields and even making lightning strike the Demon. All these things seemed to come naturally, and he felt some of the understanding of these things seep into him. As each thing was done by the 'other being', he understood how it happened. More importantly, he understood how he could re-create them in the future. Finally, he summoned a great ball of fire that surged from his outstretched hands and exploded in contact with the Demon.

A hole in the ground seemed to open up, and the Demon was sucked slowly into it.

"No! It's not possible, you are untried." it cried, "You cannot defeat me!"

Conner collapsed as the other being left him, and was soon surrounded by three concerned Senshi.

"Sailor Moon, get away from him!" Cried out Sailor Jupiter.

"It is a Demon!" added Sailor Mars, "We must destroy It!"

From off to his left Conner heard a reply, "Yeah get away from him, VIG coming through. Move it or lose it!"

A young girl dressed in some kind of reddish skirt, and pinkish jacket strode up to Conner. Long black hair swished as she walked, almost with a mind of it's own. She carried a mallet, that appeared to be some sort of cross between a plastic toy and a croquet mallet. It looked ridiculously fragile, but the Senshi still cleared a path for her; possibly more from shock, than the threat of the toy mallet.

The young girl crouched down beside Conner, "Gee, Urd is going to be so angry that I found you first." She said with an evil smile, before pouring hot water from a thermos on the ground.

Conner pondered the appearance of a thermos that the young girl didn't appear to have been carrying and the reason behind the hot water when she grabbed Conner's arm, and everything went black.


End file.
